Playing Career
Finnigan learned at an early age that there was money to be made in hockey. He received his first fee for playing hockey when he was 13, playing for Quyon against Fitzroy Harbour, for which he received $10. Finnigan first played senior-level hockey for the University of Ottawa in the Ottawa City Hockey League (OCHL) in nearby Ottawa in 1921–22. According to Finnigan, he was paid to play for the University and did not have to submit any assignments. As he had to take the train from Shawville to Ottawa, he picked up the nickname of "Shawville Express." He played two more seasons for teams in the OCHL, with Ottawa Collegiate and Ottawa Montagnards before joining the Ottawa Senators in the 1923–24 season.
Finnigan was an integral member of the 1927 Stanley Cup champion Senators team, playing on a line with Hec Kilrea and Frank Nighbor. He later served as the Senators captain from 1930–1933, and scored a high of 21 goals in the 1929–30 season. When the Senators suspended operations for the 1931–32 NHL season, Finnigan played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning the Stanley Cup for a second time, returning to the Senators the following season. Finnigan scored the final Senators goal in the final season that the NHL Senators played in Ottawa. He scored an unassisted goal at the 1 minute, 7 second mark of the second period on March 15, 1934. The following season, he moved with the other Senators players to play for the transferred franchise in St. Louis, Missouri known as the St. Louis Eagles in the 1934-35 season. He was sold by the Eagles to the Maple Leafs before the season's end in February 1935 and he finished his career with several seasons with the Maple Leafs as a "defensive specialist."
In 1937, Finnigan retired from the NHL. He returned to Ottawa and played ice hockey for various amateur teams, including the Ottawa RCAF Flyers while he was in the Air Force.
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